| Date | 6 – 8 August 1932 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympic Park Swimming Stadium, Los Angeles, California |
| Participants | 20 from 10 countries |
Helene Madison had emerged as the dominant force in women’s swimming over the previous two years, breaking record after record, and was voted the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for 1931. Madison’s progressed to the final, but her semi-final swim, where she faded after a strong start and finished in a time that would have seen fail to qualify from the other semi-final, brought a moment of doubt. The 14 year old Willy den Ouden from the Netherlands had broken the Olympic record in reaching the final, and looked set to mount a strong challenge to Madison.
The American started the final strongly and built up a clear lead but, with 25 metres to go, she clipped the lane dividers and lost speed. Regaining her momentum, she pushed on to the end and finished ahead of her Dutch rival.
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helene Madison |  USA | 1:08.9 (1 h3) | 1:09.9 (1 h2) | 1:06.8 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Willy den Ouden |  NED | 1:09.2 (2 h4) | 1:07.6 (1 h1) | 1:07.8 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Eleanor Garatti-Saville | USA | 1:08.5 (1 h4) | 1:08.8 (2 h1) | 1:08.2 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Josephine McKim | USA | 1:09.3 (2 h2) | 1:08.8 (3 h1) | 1:09.3 (4) | |||
| 5 | Frances Bult |  AUS | 1:11.4 (3 h2) | 1:10.2 (2 h2) | 1:09.9 (5) | |||
| 6 | Jenny Maakal |  RSA | 1:11.0 (2 h3) | 1:10.6 (3 h2) | 1:10.8 (6) | |||
| 7 | Joyce Cooper |  GBR | 1:09.0 (1 h2) | 1:09.2 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 8 | Corrie Laddé | NED | 1:12.1 (1 h1) | 1:11.8 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 9 | Yvonne Godard |  FRA | 1:12.2 (2 h1) | 1:14.1 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 10 | Lilli Andersen |  DEN | 1:11.6 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 11 | Valerie Davies | GBR | 1:12.7 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 12 | Rie Vierdag | NED | 1:13.3 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 13 | Edna Hughes | GBR | 1:15.1 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 14 | Irene Mullen |  CAN | 1:15.2 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 15 | Yukie Arata |  JPN | 1:16.1 (3 h4) | – | – | |||
| 16 | Kazue Kojima | JPN | 1:16.2 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 17 | Irene Pirie | CAN | 1:16.3 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| 18 | Hatsuho Matsuzawa | JPN | 1:17.1 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 19 | Marjorie Linton | CAN | 1:19.9 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 20 | Maria Lenk |  BRA | 1:25.8 (5 h4) | – | – |
| Date | 6 August 1932 — 15:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the semi-finals. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Eleanor Garatti-Saville | USA | 1:08.5 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Helene Madison | USA | 1:08.9 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Joyce Cooper | GBR | 1:09.0 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Willy den Ouden | NED | 1:09.2 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Josephine McKim | USA | 1:09.3 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Jenny Maakal | RSA | 1:11.0 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Frances Bult | AUS | 1:11.4 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Lilli Andersen | DEN | 1:11.6 | ||
| 9 | 1 | Corrie Laddé | NED | 1:12.1 | ||
| 10 | 3 | Yvonne Godard | FRA | 1:12.2 | ||
| 11 | 2 | Valerie Davies | GBR | 1:12.7 | ||
| 12 | 1 | Rie Vierdag | NED | 1:13.3 | ||
| 13 | 3 | Edna Hughes | GBR | 1:15.1 | ||
| 14 | 5 | Irene Mullen | CAN | 1:15.2 | ||
| 15 | 4 | Yukie Arata | JPN | 1:16.1 | ||
| 16 | 5 | Kazue Kojima | JPN | 1:16.2 | ||
| 17 | 2 | Irene Pirie | CAN | 1:16.3 | ||
| 18 | 4 | Hatsuho Matsuzawa | JPN | 1:17.1 | ||
| 19 | 5 | Marjorie Linton | CAN | 1:19.9 | ||
| 20 | 1 | Maria Lenk | BRA | 1:25.8 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Corrie Laddé | NED | 1:12.1 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Yvonne Godard | FRA | 1:12.2 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Valerie Davies | GBR | 1:12.7 | ||
| 4 | 4 | Hatsuho Matsuzawa | JPN | 1:17.1 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Marjorie Linton | CAN | 1:19.9 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Joyce Cooper | GBR | 1:09.0 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Josephine McKim | USA | 1:09.3 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Frances Bult | AUS | 1:11.4 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Rie Vierdag | NED | 1:13.3 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Irene Mullen | CAN | 1:15.2 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Helene Madison | USA | 1:08.9 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Jenny Maakal | RSA | 1:11.0 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Lilli Andersen | DEN | 1:11.6 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Edna Hughes | GBR | 1:15.1 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Kazue Kojima | JPN | 1:16.2 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Eleanor Garatti-Saville | USA | 1:08.5 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Willy den Ouden | NED | 1:09.2 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Yukie Arata | JPN | 1:16.1 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Irene Pirie | CAN | 1:16.3 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Maria Lenk | BRA | 1:25.8 |
| Date | 7 August 1932 — 15:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top three in each heat advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Willy den Ouden | NED | 1:07.6 | ||
| =2 | Eleanor Garatti-Saville | USA | 1:08.8 | ||
| =2 | Josephine McKim | USA | 1:08.8 | ||
| 4 | Joyce Cooper | GBR | 1:09.2 | ||
| 5 | Helene Madison | USA | 1:09.9 | ||
| 6 | Frances Bult | AUS | 1:10.2 | ||
| 7 | Jenny Maakal | RSA | 1:10.6 | ||
| 8 | Corrie Laddé | NED | 1:11.8 | ||
| 9 | Yvonne Godard | FRA | 1:14.1 |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Willy den Ouden | NED | 1:07.6 | ||
| 2 | Eleanor Garatti-Saville | USA | 1:08.8 | ||
| 3 | Josephine McKim | USA | 1:08.8 | ||
| 4 | Joyce Cooper | GBR | 1:09.2 | ||
| 5 | Yvonne Godard | FRA | 1:14.1 |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helene Madison | USA | 1:09.9 | ||
| 2 | Frances Bult | AUS | 1:10.2 | ||
| 3 | Jenny Maakal | RSA | 1:10.6 | ||
| 4 | Corrie Laddé | NED | 1:11.8 |
| Date | 8 August 1932 — 15:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helene Madison | USA | 1:06.8 | ||
| 2 | Willy den Ouden | NED | 1:07.8 | ||
| 3 | Eleanor Garatti-Saville | USA | 1:08.2 | ||
| 4 | Josephine McKim | USA | 1:09.3 | ||
| 5 | Frances Bult | AUS | 1:09.9 | ||
| 6 | Jenny Maakal | RSA | 1:10.8 |
